This invention relates to a compact video system for the recording of high speed events. More particularly, the present invention relates to a video system for use outdoors to record rapidly changing events such as athletic events. The video system is self-contained, has a collapsible cart which houses the components of the system for protection from environmental effects and theft, and has a video monitor which may be viewed in sunlight without loss of image brightness.
The need often arises for recording high speed or rapidly changing events so that the event may be played back later in slow or stopped motion in order to analyze the event. Such motion analysis capabilites are, for example, desirable in analyzing athletic events such as the motions of an athlete while engaged in football, baseball, golfing, or the like. Thus, it may be desirable to capture the motion of a swinging golf club in order to correct a defect in the golfer's swing. Stop action may be used in football games in order to analyze the movements of a football player, such as those of a quarterback throwing a football to a receiver. Motion analysis systems are also useful in determining the overall athletic prowess of an athlete by determining how fast the athlete can run a forty-yard dash, for example.
In addition to applications to athletic events, motion analysis is also useful in examining the operation and fault pattern of machinery, in crash testing of transportation systems, in testing of aerospace hardware and the like.
In such applications, it is desirable that the components of the motion analysis video system be protected from harsh environment and theft of the expensive components of the video system, while providing easy transportation of the system to the site of the event to be analyzed. It is also desirable that such a video system be totally self-contained and provide easily accessible storage for the components of the analysis system. Since the video system is used outdoors or in other bright light situations, images displayed on a video monitor produced by a VCR or camera should be viewable without a substantial loss of brightness.